FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

This is ILOILO and it's Dinagyang Festival 2019!  Centered on the theme " Connecting Communities through Culture and Faith ", it promises a lot of fun, faith, fiesta and FOOD!  And this is what it's all about - a food guide to the best of Iloilo. As the streets are turned into party places, connecting with the flavorsof Iloilo will certainly make your Dinagyang experience a gastronomically memorable one. And it starts with a sip of LAPAZ BATCHOY.

The Feast Day of the Santo Niño which falls every 3rd Sunday of the year coincides with the Fiesta of the district of Arevalo, Iloilo City. Home to the 3rd oldest image of the Child Jesus after Cebu and Tondo, the district also boast of many other titles - Lechon, Seafood, Flowers and Firecrackers Capital of Iloilo City! As I missed last year's fiesta, I made it a point to attend this year's gastronomic offering served at Camina Balay nga Bato . While I've attended numerous lunch and dinner buffets this ancestral house has hosted for it's guests, a fiesta celebration inside one of Iloilo City's top tourist attractions is still a different and one-of-a-kind experience. And here are some of the fiesta food offerings I and other guests enjoyed last Sunday during the Fiesta of the district of Arevalo, Iloilo. How about some papaya atsara to whet our appettites for the fiesta dinner? But the pasta salad was as appetizing too with its tangy-sweet f

More than 10 year ago, to get into the Dinagyang spirit I planned on making a collage from my food photo collection in the shape of a Dinagyang warrior headdress. In the process, the thought of making it from real food items would be much easier so I suddenly got excited and got this plate native delicacies and finished my first creation. But I wasn’t satisfied so the next day, I got more native delicacies while eating some of them as I made my “art”). It seems my “creativity” has been lost in gastronomic translation for they all looked ridiculous so I just ate more of them – lol. Then with some stroke of luck and inspiration, I finally managed to get a better looking one that eventually became my trademark. And yes, it’s edible and represents what Iloilo is famous for – food and Dinagyang.

Amidst the fireworks and revelries, food ushers in the new year with the traditional  media noche . So what's on our table welcoming the new year 2019? Though the new year is barely a day old but already it seems to be full of life and of course, gastronomic delights starting with this traditional midnight meal welcoming the year ahead. Our media noche is always a mix of the traditional and all-time favorites mingling with the new food finds! So check out our fare welcoming 2019... For starters, there's the duo - GLAZED HAM and QUESO DE BOLA.  It's almost, always Purefoods Fiesta Ham (or Right Choice Piña Ham ) and Magnolia Edam Cheese  Ball on the table.  There's also TUNA SPAGHETTI with CHEESE WHIZ TOPPING,   RIGATONI CHICKEN SALAD and RIGATONI CHICKEN SOUP from the assorted Christmas goodies basket I got from all the party raffles.    For the soup, I just sliced the cooked rigatoni pasta into 3-4 pieces while the salad had the whole pasta in